Valve system for regeneratively heated furnaces and the like



April 0, 1940. E. s. s. WOHLFAHRT 2,198,797

VALVE SYSTEM FOR REGENERATIVELY HEATED FURNACES AND THE LIKE Filed March 7, 1939 Allornev 1 i j Patented Apr. 30, 1940 greater VALVE SYSTEMFOR REGENERATIVELY j 1 :HEATEDFURNACES NDT E LIKE EdvardSi xten Sixtensson WohlfahrLDomnarvet, Sweden, assignor itelngenieurbiiro fiir HuttenbauWillhelm Schwier, Dusseldorf, Germany Application March 7, 1939, Serial No. 260,259 i In Sweden March 18, 1938 e a This invention 1 relates to an improved ar-1 rangement of valvesand ducts in furnaces and the like'which require reversing valves, asu sed, for instance, in connection heated open-hearth furnaces. t t j Reversing valves for regeneratively heated furnaces andthe like must comply withfthe iollowing requirementsz (a)The rever'si 1o mustbe eifected without any loss of gas, that is to say in such a manner that no communica tionbetween the gasductandthe chimney can takepl'ace.

(12) The valves should be tight so that no gas can get lost.

,(c') The valves should operate with the least valves are aiden;

30, anvrisk of aniaxplosionf e e ,(e) The distribution of the gas into the individual chambers/as well as the total furnace draught, should be regulated solely by the reversing valves without any additional valves,

(1') The fvalve system should be reliable in ser ice and thecosts ofits ferection and the operatingcostsshomd below.

e The most" ideal reversing valve arrangement i intregardfto service considerations isthat in 30, which di sk valves are provided in the gas ducts and the air ducts, and silideevalvesare provided in thech'imney ducts, andin which the valves are controlled positivelyl in pairs in such a manner thatvalves,pertainingtto the same group canof the gas chambers are never perfectly tight owing to the formation of pitch, water-cooled ineup-valves hi l? generally been substituted for said valves, whereby, however, a loss of draught is causedowing to the change oi direction of the waste gas, and also a reduction of the tempera-- ture, thereof takes place. Besides,; the substitu- 45 the spac'eit occupies. e e

R'Ihis invention opens apractical and cheap niethod'of preventing, anyloss of gas in the gas slide-valves without losing any of the advantages which the slide-valves present over other types of valves. i a ,1 H i The invention is illustrated diagrammatically and by wayQof example on the accompanying 5 drawing in which Figure 1 isa horizontal seq-1 with regeneratively net the direction of the gas" possible loss of draught. In this respect slide id) The reversions must take place without not simultaneouslybeopen landlosses of gas due to thereversing of the valves are, therefore, prevented. Astheslide-valves in the smoke ducts tion of cup-valves for slide-valves entails an in crease of the erection costsof the plant and or tionthrough the arrangement of the chambers,

ducts and valves of an open-hearth furnace dea signed according to this invention, and in order to make matters more clear, and for the sake of comparison; I have added Figure 2 which is, a horizontal section through the chambers, the ducts and the valves as arranged up to now.

In both figures the combustion gases are conducted alternately throughthe disk valves 5 and H, or and 3! respectively, to the gas chamhers! and 3, or Z! and 23respectively.

erations, and if the gas and the air are supplied from the left (as indicated by the arrow) is: as follows: The valves 5 and l are openand the slide valves 6 and 8 are closed, in consequence whereof the gas flows into the'gas chamber l and the air flowsinto the air chamber 2. \On the right-hand side of the furnace the Iva1ves9 and x H are closed and the slide-valves I0 and I2 are opened, which prevents access of thegas and they air, and the waste gases escape from the furnace through the gas chamber 3, orthe air chamber 4 respectively, to the chimney i4 through the slide-valve I3, which'is opened just asmuch as required for the regulation of the entire draught of the furnace. After the valves andthe slidevalves have been reversed for heating the furnace from the right-hand side the position of said members is completely the opposite of what it had been prior to the reversing, apart from the,

, slide-valve l3 which remains either ,fully in its former position or its position is varied only so total draught of the furnace. The slide-valves 6 and I2, on the furnace side are in contact with the gas, in consequence, whereof they and their seats are easily covered with soot and their tight ness is thereby gradually decreased. As the gas is subjected to a certain definite pressure over atmospheric, and the'slide valve is subjectedwon:

the chimney-side to a certain pressure substantially belowatmospheric, owing to the draught in thechimney, the loss of gas is considerable even if the slide-valves are only slightly untight. Thiscannot take place with the improved armuch asljust required for the regulation of the rangement constituting the present invention chambers .22 and 24 are provided in the arch of. the exit ducts, as in Fig. l, or they are provided in separate lateral ducts, as inFig. 2. The dif- I ference between these two arrangements consists chiefly in the provision of the slide-valves in the ducts connecting the air chamberswith the chimney theslide being housed, as in Fig. l, in the ducts common to the gas chamber and the airchamberon the left-hand side, or the right-hand side respectively, of the furnace, these ducts being either united with one another to one. duct terminating in the chimney, or each of them terminating separately in the chimney, as preferred. H

In case the furnace is heated from the left hand side, the position of the valves between two reversing operations is as follows: The valves 25 and 21 are open and the slide-valves 25. and 28 are closed,and accordingly, the gas flows into the gas chamber 2| and the air flows into the air? chamberE'Z, as indicated by the arrows. On the exit side of the furnace'the' valves 29 and 3! are closed and the slide-valves 3i) and 32 are open, and, accordingly, the gas andthe air are prevented from getting" access to the furnace, and

- the wastegases pass freelyfrom the gas chamber 23 and the air chamber 24 into the chimney 3 4. As'the gas and the airare supplied into the chambers on the entrance, side thereof and their pressure is the same or approximatelythe same,

viously a remarkable advantage.

In' cas'e. the furnace is heated from the left hand side, that is to say, if the slide-valves 26 and 28. on the. left-hand side of the furnace are closed, the air obtained. in this way has approximately the same pressure as has the gas present I on'the outer side of'the slide-valve 26, i. e. the airidoes not have the pressure existing in the chimney, viz. a pressure considerably below at- "completely tight. If'the slide 26, or 32 respectively, is'untight' and. a certain difference of pressure between the supplied gas'and the sup plied air has arisen, it may occur that a certain flow, of gas or air through theslide-valve 26, or.

32 respectively, takes place, but that flow will be without any importance, as larger differences of pressure cannot arise and the amount of heat produced by the formation of a gas-flame on the one or the other side of the slide 26, or 32 re-. spectively, is reconducted to the'furnace.

The arrangement of the valves in accordance with this invention renders possible a completely individual regulation of the furnace draught in the several chambers, although no slide-valve between the air-chamber and the common duct with the air chamber arranged on the same side is provided, inthat the gas chambers will always have a certain higher temperature and it, therefore, suffices to effect this by throttling their exit ductsby means of' the slide-valves 26' and 32.

' located in the duct common to the gas chamber v andto the air chamber of the respective sideof the furnace, the total furnace draught can be regulated with the aid of these valves, so that no additional slide-valve in the chimneyduct common to the entire furnace is required, as is, however, the case in the known arrangement. (Fig. 2.)

When reversing the direction of the gas from heating the left-hand side of the furnace toheating the right handside of the same, one proceeds preferably as followsi The air-Valve 21 is closed and the slide-valve 28 is opened immediately thereafter, whereassimultaneously therewith the slide-valve 32 is closed and the valve 3| is opened. The hot air escapes now into the chimney from the air chamber 22 and'thegas passes into the gas chamber 23 where it encounters waste gas so that no explosion need befeared. iThe reversing can be effected, therefore, without any risk of an explosion; In the next moment ofthe reversing Y 22' sothat thegas will be ignited without any risk of an explosion, also-another succession in the operation of the valves and slide-valves,

which may be effected simultaneously with re versing of the same, is, of course, possible.

The. draught distribution between the gaschambers and the air-chambers is regulated. by

means of the slide-valves 26, or. 32 respectively, and the total furnace draught is regulated by means of the slide-valve 28, or 30 respectively.

The valves and. theslideevalves may beof any desired construction suitablefor the purposein view. I

- I claim: v

1. A valve system for'regenerative furnacesys terns and the like, comprising a plurality of gas chambers and air chambers, achimney,gas ducts connecting each of said gas chambers with said chimney, air ducts connecting each of said air chambers with said chimney, avalve in each of said gas ducts, oneof said air ducts meeting one of said gas ducts betweensaid valve and saidchimney, another valve arranged between said junction of one of said gas duets with one of said air-ducts and'saidchimney,whereby the pressure. of the air in said air duct is'balanced by the pressure of the gas on the other side of said first mentioned' valve. in order to prevent losses of.

gas.

2. A valve system as claimed'in claim 1 where in said valve arranged between said junction of one of said gas ducts with one of said air ducts and said chimney is'aslide-valve.

3. A valve system for regenerative furnace sys.-.

' temsand'the like comprising left and right hand: 6

gas chambers, left and" right hand air chambers, a chimney, left and right hand gasv ducts, left and right'hand air ducts, each of said gas ducts being provided with a valve, said left hand. air

duct meeting said left. hand gas duct between.

said left hand gas duct valve and said chimney, thus forming a left hand chimney duct, said right hand air duct meeting said righthand gas duct between said right hand gas duct valve and said chimneythus forminga right'hand chimney duct,

by the pressure of the gas on the other side of said first mentioned valve in order to prevent losses of gas, each of said chimney ducts being separately connected with said chimney. EDVARD SIXTEN SIXTENSSON WOHLFAHRT. 

